State water officials approved emergency rules Wednesday that will allow them to cut off some Central Valley water users without the usual formal process.

However, the final rule applies only to those with so-called junior water rights.

Senior water-right holders - including many farmers in the Delta and along the San Joaquin River - were excluded. Some may still be cut off from their water supply, but not without the formal notifications and hearings that would normally be required.

However, if other water users complain, those senior water-rights holders may be required to prove that they are legally entitled to the water they take.

Such was the carefully worded decision reached by the State Water Resources Control Board after hours of deliberation spread over two days.

Officials said they needed to crack down on growers who have ignored earlier requests to stop diverting. For junior water-rights holders, the new rule expedites those cases and speeds up financial penalties for those who fail to comply.

But on Tuesday, farmers with senior rights pleaded with the board that the rule would violate their right to due process, arguing that with crops already in the ground they would be forced to choose between ignoring the law - racking up penalties in the process - and allowing their crops to die.

Board Chair Felicia Marcus said Wednesday that the rule was an attempt to balance water users' worries with the board's legal obligation to make sure there is enough water in our rivers and streams for those who have the highest right to that water.

"We are in a drought of tremendous proportions," she said. "It's greater than virtually all of us have dealt with in our professional years, and it's greater than anything our grandparents could have dealt with," considering California's population growth and increased demand for water.

"I know there is a lot of fear out there and a lot of pain," Marcus added. "There will be a limit to what we can do to ease the pain of the drought."

Originally, the rule would have applied to both junior and senior water-right holders. The board ultimately excluded the senior water-right holders with the understanding that they can still be forced to stop diverting through the normal process.

The board also changed the proposed rule to speed up an appeals process for those who will be subject to the regulation and to provide them with more information about why they're being ordered to halt diversions.

Contact reporter Alex Breitler at (209) 546-8295 or abreitler@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/breitlerblog and on Twitter @alexbreitler.